Sixteen military members involved in a US aerial attack on a hospital in Afghanistan that killed 42 people will not face criminal charges.

The attack occurred because of human errors, process mistakes and equipment failures, and none of the aircrew or US ground troops knew the target was a hospital, General Joseph Votel told a Pentagon news conference Friday.

Investigators concluded that certain personnel did not comply with the rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict during the strike that hit the hospital in Kunduz in October last year.

But they also determined that these failures did not amount to a war crime, Votel said. 'This was an extreme situation' complicated by combat fatigue among US special operations forces, he added.

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Sixteen military members involved in a US aerial attack on a hospital in Afghanistan that killed 42 people will not face criminal charges, General Joseph Votel said during a Pentagon news conference Friday (pictured)

A US AC-130 struck a civilian hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan by mistake in October last year, killing 42. Pictured, an employee of Doctors Without Borders, which operated the facility, walks inside the remains

The intended target of the US attack was a compound about a quarter-mile away from the hospital.

Doctor Without Borders, which operated the civilian hospital, has called the attack a war crime and demanded an independent investigation.

Votel said that the trauma center was on a US military no-strike list but that the gunship crew didn't have access to the list because it launched its mission on short notice and as a result did not have the data loaded into its on-board systems.

'The investigation found that the incident resulted from a combination of unintentional human errors, process errors and equipment failures, and that none of the personnel knew they were striking a hospital.'

Votel headed US Special Operations Command at the time of the attack last fall. He took over US Central Command, which oversees military operations in Afghanistan, in March.

He expressed 'deepest condolences' to those injured and to the families of those killed.

The sixteen military members, which include officers as well as enlisted personnel, have been disciplined for their roles in the strike.

A two-star general was among the 16 disciplined according to one senior US official.

A number of those punished are US special operations forces.

Among the 16, some were given letters of reprimand and admonishment; one officer was removed from command; some were suspended from their duties and some were given extensive retraining. No one was sent to court-martial.

Sixteen members of the military have been sanctioned for their role in the airstrike that hit the hospital (pictured). But an investigation found they were not guilty of war crimes

The Pentagon released a memorandum from Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Friday, ordering military commanders to take a series of steps over the next four months to 'mitigate the potential for similar incidents in the future.'

Carter ordered among other things that the Kunduz scenario be incorporated into pre-deployment training as an example of the kind of complicated situations that troops may face in Afghanistan or other war zones.

Central Command released a redacted version of the full investigation report on Friday, including details about what led a US AC-130 gunship to bomb the hospital.

'The investigation determined that all members of both the ground force and the AC-130 air crew were unaware that the aircraft was firing on a medical facility throughout the engagement,' Votel said.

'The investigation ultimately concluded that this tragic incident was caused by a combination of human errors, compounded by process and equipment failures.'

None of their names of the 16 involved will be released to protect the privacy of the individuals and in some cases because they are still assigned to sensitive or overseas positions, Votel added.

The attack occurred because of human errors, process mistakes and equipment failures, and none of the aircrew or US ground troops knew the target was a hospital Votel said Friday (pictured)

'It is important to point out that these adverse administrative actions can carry severe repercussions on the careers and professional qualification of these individuals,' Votel said, to include possible denial of promotion or advancement and possible removal from the service.

The crew of the AC-130, which is armed with side-firing cannons and guns, had been dispatched to hit a Taliban command center in a building 450 yards from the hospital, the US military said in November.

The crew relied on a physical description that led them to begin firing at the hospital even though they saw no hostile activity there due to problems with their targeting sensors. Votel on Friday confirmed that no hostile firing was seen there.

A separate US report on the incident said last fall the AC-130 aircraft fired 211 shells at the hospital compound over 29 minutes before commanders realized the mistake and ordered a halt.

Doctors Without Borders officials contacted coalition military personnel during the attack to say the hospital was being 'bombed' from the air,' and the word finally was relayed to the AC-130 crew, that report said.

The attack came as US military advisers were helping Afghan forces retake Kunduz, which had fallen to the Taliban in September. It was the first major city to fall since the Taliban were expelled from Kabul in 2001.

Afghan officials claimed the hospital had been overrun by the Taliban, but no evidence of that has surfaced. The hospital was destroyed and Doctors Without Borders ceased operations in Kunduz.

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Military members who violated rules in US attack on Afghanistan will not face charges